Turkish Delights

view from the airplane

view from my balcony

First of all, Istanbul traffic is ridiculous. I don’t actually have a “second of all”, but Istanbul traffic is really ridiculous.  Once we arrived in Sile, we dropped our things in our rooms and headed down to dinner.  There was a table full of vegetables, and before I knew it, I had a mountainous plate of fresh veggies that I was eating. They were delicious and refreshing! After dinner, we headed to the plenary room where we played some get-to-know-each-other games. They were actually pretty fun. We also made a cool map with our bios, and where we were working.  I headed upstairs with my two roommates—Natalia from Moldova and Heidi from Finland—and everyone went to sleep.

The next morning, the conference started with an introduction to UNITED, and the participants.  When the participants were talking about themselves and their organizations, some were talking so quickly that it was difficult to understand them.  I realized how nerve-wracking this must be for participants whose English is limited. I would be in just as much of a hurry to finish my turn if this conference were in my second or third or even fourth language.  After, the introductions, we split into groups to discuss “The Danger of Words.” We discussed the meanings and connotations behind tolerance, prejudice, and anti-Semitism.  I learned a great deal from my colleagues, and it was a great start to the conference.

After lunch in the afternoon, we learned about some Turkey-specific minority issues before we split into our working groups.  Mine was titled “Refugee Rights: Suspended Lives?” Even if we didn’t accomplish anything else at this conference, we certainly established that the question mark is unnecessary.  The members of my group were incredibly insightful and experienced in the issues of asylum seekers and refugees. I will admit that there were times that I felt out of my depth. I learned a great deal from them, and I hope that I imparted a new perspective onto them as well. 

That evening we had an Info Market where the different organizations laid out publications and fliers from their organizations, so that we could learn more about each other’s work.  It was fascinating to see the diversity of issues, yet also see how connected they are.  After the serious business, we also had a presentation of “International Snacks,” which turned out to mostly be treats and alcohol.  It was a really fun night to get to know everyone in a more social setting.  A few of us decided to sing ABBA during the Intercultural Evening. A decision, which was reversed by the time the performance date rolled around, thankfully.

The next day we started by talking about hate crimes. It was really interesting to hear them talk about fascism in regards to hate crime.  In the U.S. (at least to my limited knowledge), hate crime is more common with isolated people and groups, but they were talking about hate crime as a movement.  Often when they were discussing the fascists, they talked about shutting down websites and political parties.  The thought of those ideas alarmed me.  I understand that free speech must have its limits, but I don’t think that when security overrules it there is cause for celebration.  During the lunch break, I went swimming on the beach.  Everyone had warned me about the alarming cold of the Black Sea, but it wasn’t too bad.  It also happened to be quite lovely outside that day.  In the afternoon, we met more with our working groups, and then I went to a workshop on FRA.  The Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU does great work in monitoring rights across European Union countries, and I enjoyed hearing about how CSOs can participate in their work.

Friday morning, we put the finishing touches on our working group presentation for the rest of the conference after which I went to a workshop on the monitoring discrimination. During the workshop, we learned about using situation testing to determine if discrimination is taking place.  In the afternoon, we took a bus ride to Istanbul for an afternoon of tourism.  We took a ferryboat across the Golden Horn, then we walked. And walked and walked and walked. Oops.  By the time we arrived to Sultanahmet Square, I was fairly certain I would never walk again.  A few of us split off to venture on our own, with less walking. Garrett, Michael, Rubina and I saw the Blue Mosque—which was incredible—and walked around the Grand Bazaar—which was huge and overpriced and interesting.  After those adventures, we headed to have dinner with the rest of the group. It was a lot of fun, and we were all very tired when we headed back to Sile.  On the way back, our bus broke down.  Fortunately, it was fixed relatively quickly and I was able to sleep most of the way back to the hotel.

Blue Mosque

Grand Bazaar

Our last day at the Conference, we talked about Islamaphobia and using social networking in human rights.  Both were informative, and I feel like the latter gave me useful tools for future advocacy.  The working group presentations were interesting and occasionally fun.  The diversity and depth of knowledge within this conference continually impressed me.  After the presentations, we evaluated the conference.  We started by doing a verbal evaluation.  Many of my colleagues echoed this resounding belief that this conference had brought to us: “We are not in this alone.”

That evening I went swimming on the rocky beach, and it was very cold.  The waves were lovely.  So, apparently, were we.  There was a crowd of about twenty people watching us swim and taking pictures.  After the frigid, but fun swim, I took my first hot shower in Turkey. It turns out you just had to wait 10 minutes for the water to heat up.  Good info to find out on my last day.  That night we had the intercultural evening, which was a lot of fun.  After which, we watched Eurovision.  This was my first exposure to the European singing adventure.  It was fascinating to watch the citizens of different countries vote based on cultural/ political ties rather than performer talent.  That night everyone stayed up all night saying our bittersweet goodbyes and fruitless assurances that we’ll be together again soon. 

Aya Sofia

Inside the Aya Sofia

The next morning, a bunch of us boarded the bus to the center of Istanbul.  Monika (who works for FRA) and I went to Sultanahmet Square.  We had some lunch… well, she had ice cream for lunch. Vegetarian options aren’t so great in Istanbul.  We went to Aya Sofia, which was incredible.  We crossed the square to go to the Blue Mosque.  She hadn’t been before, and it was just as incredible for me the second time around.  We even got to see the call to prayer this time.  Then, I took the metro back to the airport and said goodbye to Turkey.  I had a sure sign, though, that I wasn’t saying goodbye forever when the first restaurant I saw upon my return to Budapest was called Aya Sofia.  

Turkish restaurant in Budapest